Invitation to Tender for Consultancy Services

Support to the Development of an organisational policy, guidelines and templates on Consortia

Trócaire is seeking a consultant to provide specialist advice on best practice in Consortia and assist with the preparation of a suite of documents for use by Trócaire country offices and headquarters staff when setting up consortium partnerships for the purposes of applying for and implementing grants from institutional funders.

Tenderers’ must demonstrate that they have the resources and expertise to provide the full range of services required.

Release Date: 16/12/2016

  1. Introduction

Tenders are invited from consultants who wish to be considered for selection as the provider of advisory services to Trócaire.

This document deals with:

Section 2Confidentiality

Section 3 Profile of Trócaire

Section 4 Scope of the work

Section 5 Content and format of Tenders

Section 6 General Terms and Conditions

Section 7 Conflict of Interest

Section 8Contract Period

Section 9 Intellectual Property

Section 10Termination of Contract

Section 11Evaluation of Tenders

Section 12Submission of Tenders

Annex 1Terms of Reference for the Consultancy

  1. Confidentiality

Trócaire will treat the content of all tenders as being confidential and information provided in the tenders will be used solely for the purpose of deciding on the award of a contract as described in this document.

  1. Profile of Trócaire
  2. Trócaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland and works with some of the world’s poorest people, supporting communities and delivering long-term change to people’s lives. Established in 1973 by the Bishops of Ireland, today Trócaire works in over 20 countries on issues including livelihoods, human rights, gender equality, climate change and emergency relief. In Ireland, we raise awareness about the causes of poverty through our outreach programmes in the education sector, through parish networks, and through our public campaigns and advocacy work. Trócaire was established to express the concern of the Irish Catholic Church for any form of human need, but particularly for the needs and problems of under-developed communities by the relief of poverty and the advancement of education. More information about Trócaire can be found on

3.2Trócaire operates almost entirely through a partnership model which means that it does not directly implement programmes but works with and through local organisations in its countries of operation.

3.3Trócaire’s strategic plan for the period 2016-2020 (“For a Just and Sustainable Future”) sets out its strategic priority areas as follows:

  • Human Rights and Democratic Space
  • Equitable access to and use of resources
  • Women’s empowerment
  • Protection of human dignity in humanitarian crises

3.4Registration and Constitution

Trócaire is a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland (charity number CHY 5883), granted charitable status under Sections 207 and 208 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Trócaire is governed by a Trust Deed dated 18 December 1973, as amended on 14 June 2001 and 19 October 2010.

3.5Trustees and Board

Trustees are appointed by the Episcopal Conference. There are six Trustees, all of whom must be an Archbishop or Bishop of the Irish Hierarchy. The Trustees appoint a Board consisting of up to 14 members to advise and assist them in the governance of Trócaire. The members of the Board are subject to retirement by rotation, having held office for three years consecutively. No member of the Board other than a Trustee or an ex-Officio Member shall hold office for longer than six consecutive years.

  1. Scope of the Work

See separate Terms of Referencedocument in Annex 1: Terms of Reference for Consultancy.

  1. Content and Format of Tenders

Expressions of interest should be submitted by way of a written tender document of no more than 8-10 pages and contain the below elements.

-CV outlining your relevant expertise and experience;

-Description of how you meet the requirements set out in section 8(“Skills and Qualifications”) of the Terms of Reference in Annex 1;

-Contact details of at least two referees;

-A plan for how you would provide the support required;

-A financial proposal including number of days estimated for the support, daily rate and a detailed breakdown of all estimated costs.

-Details of proposed VAT rates;

-The proposal should indicate the period for which prices and terms quoted will hold good.

  1. General Terms and Conditions

-Trócaire does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced tender.

-Trócaire reserves the right to engage other companies if required during the term of the contract.

-Trócaire shall be free to:

  • To accept the whole, or part only, of any tender
  • To accept none of the proposals tendered
  • To republish this Request for Tenders

-In the event of not accepting any of the proposals received on foot of this Request for Tenders, Trócaire shall be free to make such arrangements as it considers necessary in relation to the provision of the services.

-Trócaire will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred in the preparation of a tender.

-The tenderers shall maintain strict confidentiality in relation to the services being sought and the tendering process.

-The Contract shall be considered as a contract made in Ireland, according to Irish law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.

-The Standard Terms and Conditions and Suppliers Code of Conduct which Trócaire expects all of its suppliers to respect can be viewed or downloaded from

  1. Conflicts of interest
  2. Any conflicts interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to Trócaire. Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past work which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest. It will be for Trócaire to decide if a material conflict of interest exists and applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of Trócaire.

7.2Advice provided to Trócaire must be accompanied by a statement that there is no conflict of interest involving the applicant. In the event where there is a conflict, Trócaire reserves the right to retain another consultant to provide the advice, for that issue alone.

  1. Contract Period

The contract shall be for a period for the time to provide this consultancy only.

  1. Intellectual Property

Any concept, guidelines or other material developed during the contract will be considered the property of Trócaire and may be used by Trócaire at any time.

  1. Termination of Contract
  2. Trócaire reserves the right to terminate the contract at any stage on payment of reasonable and agreed costs accrued to the date of termination. The contract may be terminated by either party on giving one month’s written notice or a shorter notice period if both parties agree.

10.2If at any stage during the contract, the work being undertaken by the tenderer is found to be unsatisfactory, the contract may be terminated by Trócaire. In the event of such a termination, the tenderer will only be entitled to receive payment in relation to the acceptable work done. The computation of such payment shall be based on the extent of approved work carried out to the date of termination valued, by use of the costs used in the tender submission.

  1. Evaluation of Tenders
  2. The successful tenderer will be the one who, in the opinion of Trócaire, submits the most economically advantageous proposal applying the following award criteria:
  • Quality of proposal and services offered and level of compliance with requirements;
  • Pricing and level of transparency with regard to pricing structure;
  • The suitability, capacity, reputation and previous experience of theconsultant to provide the requiredservices in a timely and efficient manner;

11.2During the evaluation period clarification may be sought in writing from tenderers. Responses to requests for clarification may not materially change any elements of the tenders submitted.

11.3No unsolicited communications from tenderers will be entertained during the evaluation period.

11.4A short list of those who have tendered may be drawn up and a certain number of those who tendered may be invited to make a final presentation.

  1. Submission of Tenders

All applications should be submitted by email to Aoife Black, Institutional Funding Co-ordinator, email beforemidnight on Sunday 8th January 2017.

Annex 1: Terms of Reference for Consultancy: Support to the development of an organisational policy, guidelines and templates on Consortia

Terms of Reference for Consultancy

Working in Consortia: Support to the development of an organisational policy, guidelines and templates on Consortia

1. Objective

To provide specialist advice on best practice and assist with the preparation of a suite of documents for use by Trócaire country offices and headquarters staff when setting up consortium partnerships for the purposes of applying for and implementing grants from institutional funders.

2. Background

Trócaire’s strategic plan 2016-2020 sets out an ambitious growth agenda which is largely predicated on substantially increasing Trocaire’s levels of institutional funding (defined as grants accessed through bilateral and multilateral donors as well as corporate trusts and foundations) and engaging in new and innovative types of partnership with other development actors. An important dimension of Trócaire’s new strategic direction will be increased participation in consortium bids with other international NGOs, universities, private sector actors and others either as a sub-recipient or a lead agency. As such, Trócaire intends to develop a set of guidance documents and tools which will assist its staff in developing/participating in consortium arrangements, managing organisational risk associated with consortia, managing consortium grants according to donor requirements and ensuring best practice is observed throughout the consortium lifecycle.

3. Key Questions

The following initial set of key questions to guide this work have been identified. It is anticipated that this framework will be further elaborated and refined as part of this consultancy.

Principles /
  • Why, how and when should Trócaire enter into Consortium (either as lead/sub)?
  • What are the advantages/disadvantages of being in a Consortium either as the lead or sub?
  • What are Trócaire’s non-negotiables when entering into Consortium with others/when taking the lead?
  • What should Trócaire be doing to pre-position itself for consortia arrangements?

Risk Management /
  • What are the risks associated with Consortia (lead/sub) and how should they be managed?
  • What level of risk is Trócaire prepared to assume in leading a consortium?
  • What procedures/tools are needed for pre-assessment of consortium partners?
  • What approval/sign-off procedure should be used for entering into Consortium?
  • What authority levels should apply for signing Consortia agreements (either as a sub/lead)?

Consortia and local partners /
  • How do Trócaire’s local partners (sub-grantees) fit within the consortium model and how does that align with Trócaire’s partnership model?
  • What levels of risk can be underwritten by Trócaire for local partners in consortia?
  • To what extent should local partners be expected to provide match funding or cover ineligible costs?

Governance /
  • What governance arrangements are suitable for Trócaire as a partnership organisation when operating in consortium?
  • How should local partners (who are not full consortium members) be linked to the consortium governance structures/what is their role?

Procurement and logistics /
  • What is best practice on procurement and logistics within consortia (eg whose policies should apply?)
  • What additional controls should be placed on procurement within consortia?

Financial /
  • What additional financial guidance and procedures are needed when in consortium?
  • What policy should apply on Cost Recovery (direct/indirect) in consortia? How should general admin percentages allocated by donors be split between consortium partners?
  • What should be the policy on exchange rates and FX losses/gains?
  • How should consortia income/expenditure be accurately accounted for on our financial systems (Agresso/Salesforce)?
  • What disbursement arrangements should apply (HQ or in-country)?
  • What guidance should apply on consortium budgeting (eg unit costs, key items and costs to include, standardisation of costs across consortium partners?

Programme Implementation /
  • What arrangements should be in place for monitoring and review of consortium partners?
  • What reporting/review formats are needed?

4. Proposed Methodology

  1. Review and revision of key questions framework (section 2 above) in consultation with taskforce (approximately 5% of time);
  2. Review of background resources: review of key resources including Trócaire reports, MOUs and other consortium documentation; sourcing and review of examples of consortia MOUs/risk assessment processes/governance/practical arrangements used by a selected number of NGOs. These resources should be compiled into a summary document outlining best practice, options and recommendations for Trócaire in response to the key areas identified in section 3 above (approximately 25% of time);
  3. Facilitated agreement process: consult with senior staff and taskforce to agree on a headline set of key principles and processes for engagement in consortia and to inform the policy (approximately 20% of time);
  4. Drafting and review of key documents and templates (approximately 50% of time).

5. Deliverables

  • Summary document on Consortia best practice with examples and recommendations/options for Trócaire on the key areas outlined in section 3
  • Draft Trócaire policy on consortia (definitions, key principles etc)
  • Draft Consortium risk management framework and approvals process
  • Draft Template for pre-teaming agreement/Letter of Intent
  • Draft Template for Main Consortium Contract
  • Draft Terms of Reference for Governance Structures
  • Draft Template for Consortium sub-grant contract

6. Working Arrangements

An internal project taskforce consisting of Trócaire staff from relevant functional units (institutional funding, finance & risk, operational management) will be set up. The taskforce will be led by the Institutional Funding Co-ordinator. The taskforce will consult regularly on progress and challenges with Trócaire’s Operational Management Group (OMG). Final approval on the consortium guidelines and templates will lie with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) (see Figure 2 below). Legal review of contractual templates will be carried out by a firm of solicitors to be engaged by Trócaire.

The Consultant will report directly to the Institutional Funding Co-ordinator and work closely with the taskforce in the achievement of the consultancy objectives. The Consultant will be required to work from their own premises and with their own office resources for the majority of the duration of the contract. For some specific activities (e.g. working sessions with the Taskforce), depending on the methodology proposed, the Consultant may be required to attend the Trócaire office.

Figure 2: Proposed Process

7. Timeline

Process to be completed within 12 weeks of the contract being signed.

8. Skills and Qualifications

The person hired to undertake this consultancy should possess the following skills and qualifications at a minimum:

  • Substantial experience and practical knowledge of working to set up and manage NGO consortia funding arrangements;
  • Substantial experience of the institutional funding environment;
  • An excellent understanding of the major rules and regulations of key donors (eg DFID, USAID, EU) as applicable to consortium arrangements;
  • Experience of NGO systems (eg finance, procurement/logistics, governance, HR)
  • Understanding and experience of the sub-granting/partnership model of operation versus direct implementation by INGOs
  • Good facilitation skills;
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English;
  • Ability to work independently with keen attention to detail

RFT for consultancy services – Consortia Project ConsultantPage | 1